Poll: Drivers would pay for repairs

Illinois motorists are willing to drop more change at the toll booth if the funds go for needed road repairs and improvements. They would even fork over more to help pay for the controversial extensions of two major roads, according to an online poll conducted by CRAIN'S.

Seventy percent of poll respondents say that both Interstate 355 in Will County and Route 53 in Lake County should be extended.

Raising tolls--if the additional money is earmarked for road repairs and the extensions--is supported by 46% of survey respondents. A toll hike with funds being used only for maintenance of existing roads is acceptable to 38%. And a third of respondents say they don't endorse a fare hike for any reason.

The unscientific poll, which ran last week on ChicagoBusiness.com, CRAIN'S Web site, tallied 1,006 responses. The poll follows CRAIN'S March 11 examination of the financial shortfall at the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and the agency's inability to repair its aging roads and make modest improvements.

Tollway Executive Director Thomas Cuculich says he's encouraged that so many respondents would pay more to have the extensions built, adding that the number would be higher "if they knew the alternative." The only way to pay for road upkeep and construction is a hefty hike on gasoline, he says.

More than half of respondents--54%--don't support abolishing Illinois tolls and replacing the revenues by raising or imposing other fees and taxes.

Complete coverage of this story appears in the March 18 issue of Crain's.